Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 76

Devanagari script

युक्तायुक्तविचारोथ मादृशेनोपयुज्यते । पराक्रमेष्वशक्तानां विचारं गाहते मनः

Transliteration

yuktāyuktavicārotha mādṛśenopayujyate | parākrameṣvaśaktānāṃ vicāraṃ gāhate manaḥ

Translation

योग्य-अयोग्याचा विचार माझ्यासारख्यालाच करावा लागतो; कारण पराक्रमास अशक्तांच्या मनाला विचारांतच बुडून राहावे लागते.

Word by Word

• युक्तायुक्तविचारः: consideration of right and wrong
• युक्तायुक्तविचारः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युक्त-अयुक्त-विचार (प्रातिपदिक; युक्त + अयुक्त + विचार)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• अथ: then / now
• अथ: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय (then/now)

• मादृशेन: by one like me
• मादृशेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मादृश (प्रातिपदिक; मद् + दृश्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), एकवचन

• उपयुज्यते: is employed / is useful
• उपयुज्यते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप-युज् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि प्रयोग (passive)

• पराक्रमेषु: in acts of valor / endeavors
• पराक्रमेषु: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पराक्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), बहुवचन

• अशक्तानाम्: of the incapable
• अशक्तानाम्: Shashthi-Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-शक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), बहुवचन

• विचारम्: reflection / deliberation
• विचारम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विचार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• गाहते: enters / plunges into
• गाहते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गाह् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• मनः: the mind
• मनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (narrating/quoting; deduced for Kāśīkhaṇḍa context)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī (Avimukta)

Type: kshetra

Skanda Dialogue

Listener: Self-address / implied audience in the dialogue

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contemplative figure, hands to chin or holding a rosary, surrounded by symbolic scrolls of ‘proper/improper’, while the distant spire of Viśvanātha suggests the path from thought to action.

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

When action is blocked, the mind often substitutes rumination; dharma points toward decisive, faith-rooted movement.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Implicitly Kāśī, where the narrative directs the troubled mind toward the stabilizing presence of Viśveśa.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None.